My Main Role - Part 8

Link to French Part

Link to part 7

On 7 February, after a very short night, I had my first shift at the Speed Skating Arena at the Rho Fair. Since Dave wasn’t scheduled that day, I made my way there alone. As soon as I stepped out of the Metro, I scanned the crowd for someone dressed like me to follow. That turned out to be easy—there were at least twenty of us heading in the same direction. The walk from the Metro to Workforce Check‑in is at least one kilometre, maybe more, which gave me plenty of time to chat with people. That’s how I met Étienne from France; we immediately switched to French and continued the walk together.

The long path between the Metro to the Arena. Good thing they have moving walkway.

Check‑in was quick and efficient. They scanned my accreditation, emailed me a meal voucher, and sent me to the “gift station,” where they asked how many shifts I had completed so far (and of course double‑checked in their system). Volunteers receive gifts after their 1st, 3rd, 5th, 9th, and 15th shifts. Since I had already worked two shifts at the Opening Ceremony, I was getting two gifts that day. The first is a pin; the second, an insulated coffee mug.

After the gift station, Étienne and I were directed to the meeting room, where we were told to go eat first and return at 12:30. Since we had no idea where to go, they asked someone who had been there before to guide us. That’s how we met Adriano from Spain. I was delighted, it meant I could practice my Spanish. Lunch was twenty times better than the boxed meal from the stadium: hot food, actual seating, and everything tasted good… except the coffee, which was so watered down I ended up pouring it out in the fountain. At 12:25, the three musketeers (as Étienne had started calling our little trio) headed back to the meeting room. We lined up to receive a sticker for our accreditation, which determined our group. I got an orange dot (so did Adriano), though I still had no idea what it meant. Once I found the other orange dots, we were moved inside the Arena itself.

Now, I have to talk about the Arena. Like many facilities at Milano Cortina, the Speed Skating Arena is a temporary installation. To build a covered venue large enough for a 400‑metre track plus seating for 6,500 spectators, they needed an existing building big enough to host it all. So yes—they built a massive rink inside a giant existing structure. From the outside, it looks like an enormous, not‑so‑pretty plastic curtain. But once you slip through the cut plastic, climb fourteen steps, you’re suddenly transported straight into the Olympics. It’s surreal and impressive.

Back to my role. Most groups have around thirty volunteers, supervised by a paid staff member (the supervisor), and divided into three subgroups led by a “response volunteer”—a regular volunteer chosen to lead. I’m not sure how they select them, but it’s probably not based on English proficiency (Dave would add: nor on proven competence, lol). Our supervisor had two walkie‑talkies to assign to key control points and was looking for volunteers to take them. Still tired from the Opening Ceremony, I wanted to observe before committing, so I declined. I was introduced to my response volunteer, Mylène, who sent two of us to stand by the big plastic entrance at Gate A04/A03. I went with Rachel, an American working in Milan for Deloitte, one of the Olympic sponsors. That’s how I learned that some volunteers get their spot through their employer. So far, I’ve met volunteers from Salomon and Deloitte; Salomon even pays for accommodation and food.

The competition that day was the women’s 3000m. It was an easy shift. Since spectators entered at Gate 14, by the time they walked all the way around to A04/A03, they already knew they were in the right place. If they didn’t ask, we didn’t need to do anything except smile. We didn’t check tickets (that was done at the building entrance), though many still showed them to us for reassurance. The most common question was “Where is the toilet?”—an easy one, since it was right in front of us. In later shifts, many questions would go unanswered… but that’s for Part 9. One lady asked for scissors; I sent her to the medical station.

The best part of the shift was that halfway through the competition, I would switch positions and move inside the arena, where I could watch the second half of the race. And if you know anything about speed skating, you know the second half is the one you want to see. A quick Google search told me that two Canadians were skating in the later pairs: Valérie Maltais (8th pair) and Isabelle Weidemann (10th and final pair). With two Canadians among the last six skaters, our medal chances were good.

At halftime, I moved upstairs to become an usher. Since everyone had already been seated for over an hour, I didn’t really have anything to do—meaning I could enjoy the race. When Valérie Maltais finally skated, she was paired with an Italian. You’d think the Italian would be the crowd favourite, but one look at the stands told a different story. It was a sea of orange. For those who don’t know, orange is the colour of the Dutch royal family, and the Dutch are massive/die hard long‑track speed skating fans. It felt like 80% of the spectators had been dipped in orange paint. As for Valérie’s race: her Italian opponent, Francesca Lollobrigida, was turning 35 that day. And as you all know by now, she won (and broke an Olympic record) while Valérie claimed bronze. When they announced Valérie’s medal, I checked Google again to see if it was Canada’s first medal of these Games. It was! I stayed for the medal ceremony, though thank goodness for the giant screen, there’s no way to see anything happening in the middle of such a huge rink.

I was lucky enough to witnessed the Canadian Flag being hoisted for the First time at the Milano-Cortina Games!

After the ceremony, we helped empty the stadium. Everyone had to be out within 30 minutes. In my section, the ones lingering the longest were mostly Canadians, so I used my “sergeant major voice” to call up to the top rows: “Everyone needs to exit—even the Canadians!” That got a few laughs. Many people wanted a quick photo at the bottom of the bleachers with the empty, majestic rink behind them, so I became a photographer for a while.

Once the arena was empty, we had a quick debrief with Mylène, and I started the long walk back to the Metro. I stopped when I saw a cluster of Canadians waiting together, it turned out to be the family and friends of Isabelle Weidemann. After exchanging a pin with her brother in law, I decided the day was long enough and didn't stay to meet her. (I will talk about pin exchange at the Olympics in another post)

On the Metro, I sat across from a group of Dutch supporters. I don’t remember how we started talking, but I ended up telling them I was sorry they didn’t win. They replied, “Not as sorry as us.” Their favourite (who was also the overall favorite), Joy Beune, hadn’t even made the podium. One of them told me they had been so sure she would win that even the King of the Netherlands was in attendance. Now that is a testament of what that sport means for the Dutch!

I got home that night tired but exhilarated, already looking forward to my next shift. Whatever it would be, I knew I’d be happy—because I had just witnessed Canada’s first medal of the Milano Cortina Games.

Link to Part 9